Jon Erpenbach up and Supermax down

November 16, 2006

4:00 PM

UP: Jon Erpenbach. The state senator from Middleton says he'll introduce a measure to ban discrimination in the state constitution. Erpenbach's proposal would roll back the part of a new constitutional amendment, recently approved by Wisconsin voters, that outlaws civil unions between same-sex couples and threatens domestic partner benefits. The part of the amendment that prohibits same-sex marriage would remain intact.

DOWN: Supermax. The Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals condemns Wisconsin's showcase prison in Boscobel, likening it to 'a Soviet gulag in the 1930s.' The three-judge panel suggests conditions there ' including stripping prisoners naked and forcing them to sleep on concrete as part of a behavior modification program ' constitute cruel and unusual punishment, prohibited by the Constitution.